Because It's Mine
by Converse r life
Summary: With the first official snowfall of the year having covered Arrendale, Anna cannot hold her excitement. Dragging her older sister out with her, both young women discover how fun a simple morning can be.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, here goes nothing. This is my first Frozen fic, an it turned into a two part monster. Hopefully you guys like it, and don't forget to review! :) **

* * *

Anna usually wished to be treated like an adult, instead of a child playing dress-up. There were days when everyone treated her like she was five years of age, even though she was nearing nineteen and was currently being (unofficially) courted by a man. Being the younger sister certainly had its disadvantages.

But then, there were certain days when she realized how important her role in the family was.

"Mhm…I'll show _you_ why it's not nice to throw snow people," Anna mumbled, half asleep as she turned over in her comfortable bed.

Sunlight streamed through half-closed curtains, a single spot landing directly onto her face. She moaned, raising an arm to block out the offending light. However, the sun only seemed to grow stronger, or maybe her arm was slipping, and without much warning her eyes started to open.

"Ugh…" she garbled, flopping onto her back, "stupid sun."

With a tired sigh, she sat up, yawning and wiping away excess drool. Her eyes blearily turned to the window, squinting in an effort to not be blinded. Outside, or what she could make of it, everything seemed to be covered in white.

"Huh," her foggy brain processed as she mumbled, "It must've snowed last night."

She sighed again, stretching out her back before pausing midway as a thought hit her. "It snowed last night. It _snowed_!"

With a shriek of happiness, she tried jumping out of bed. Unfortunately, her legs were tangled with the bed sheets, and she ended up landing ungracefully to the floor. Half of her wrapped up in the covers, she managed an awkward, fast crawl to the windows, pushing away the curtain in her annoyance.

Her jaw dropped. Everything looked so _beautiful_. "The first snowfall of the season," she whispered in awe, touching the cold glass panes with the bare pads of her fingers.

She sat there for maybe thirty seconds, staring out into the white expanse that covered the kingdom (or at least all of her balcony). It looked to be a foot, maybe two feet, deep. Perfect snow for playing in.

"Playing!" She suddenly remembered, her eyes starting to shine at the prospect. "I'll make snow angels—lots of them! And snowmen! All around the courtyard! I'll build a fort, and then Elsa and I can have the _best_ snowball fight in the history of Arrendale!"

She gasped, suddenly thinking of her older sister. Elsa had been swamped with work lately, staying up late into the night dealing with matters of state. So much so, in fact, that when Anna had suggested she prod the clouds into _finally_ making some snow (after all, it had been almost-snow conditions for the past week!), the Queen had shaken her head and said nature needed to take it's own course, and besides, she was far too busy.

_Maybe she'll still be too busy to go out and play in the snowfall_, a tiny voice in the back of Anna's mind mentioned.

An old fear started to rise within her, and she looked down at her hands. _What if she's locking herself back up in her room again?_

Swallowing hard, the strawberry-blonde pushed those thoughts to the dark recesses of her mind. She and her sister had been working on their relationship for the past six-months, and while no, it wasn't perfect, it was still one-hundred percent better than it had been a year before.

"If Elsa doesn't want to come outside with me—well, I'll just make her! I'll kidnap her if I have to!" Anna said to herself determinably, puffing out her chest at the mere thought of it.

Then her eyes wandered back to the window. "I better do it quickly though, before someone makes her do royal stuff and she's goes all _Queen_ Elsa, instead of _Fun_ Elsa."

A mixture of excitement, happiness, and just the tiniest bit of apprehension swelled up within the girl. She tried to stand up quickly, but neglected to realize that her legs were still caught in the bed sheets from earlier.

"Whoa!" She cried out, halfway up and losing her balance. Her hands splayed out, searching for anything to grip onto, and she found it into the curtains. "Okay, okay! I'm good, I'm alright, I'm—ah!"

Unfortunately, all of her weight on the rod proved to be too strenuous.

Without warning, there was an audible snap, and the large, metal rod fell…directly onto Anna's head.

"Oomph!" She landed flat on her back, a sizeable lump already starting to form on her hairline. "Oww…"

* * *

Elsa was one of the few people in the world who cherished the cold morning usually brought. Although she couldn't exactly _feel_ it, and snuggling deeper into her bed blankets was completely unnecessary, it did make her feel more comfortable. It was sort of like sleeping on a cloud.

A very _bouncy_ cloud, to be exact.

"Elsa…pshht…_Elsaaaaaa_!" A too-eager voice was the first thing to disturb the Queen's sleep. The bed beneath her was still bouncing up and down with movement, while _she_ was being violently shaken.

"Oh, come _on_! Wake _up_ already!" Huffing in annoyance, the owner of the voice started to shake her even harder, two warm hands pulling and pushing her back and forth.

With a soft groan, Elsa turned over on her back, blearily opening her eyes. "Anna?" Her hand reached up, searching blindly, before she felt her younger sister's face in her fingers.

"Gosh, Elsa, you sleep like the dead, did you know that? And you snore too. It's not really _loud_ snoring, but it's snoring all the same. You sound like a pig, snorting away in your sleep. It's really quite funny, you should—ack!"

Without any warning, Elsa pushed her sister's face as hard as she could _away_ from her. In turn, that meant that Anna fell off the bed with a rather pleasant sounding thud to the Queen's ears. She closed her eyes again, and smiled drowsily when she heard the girl moan.

"I do not snore." Elsa grumbled firmly, though there was an undercurrent of amusement to her words.

"Yes, you do! And you are _not_ getting rid of me that easy!" With a grunt, Anna returned to an upright position.

She took one step towards her sister's bed, but it was one step too loud, and one step too many. With a lazy wave of her hand—not even looking, mind you—Elsa created a wall of ice directly in Anna's path.

The strawberry-blonde narrowed her eyes, glaring daggers at the ice wall. She tried to side-step around it, but the wall was quicker, moving as she moved so as to not give her access to the platinum blonde still laying in bed. After about a minute, the younger girl threw her hands up in the air, slightly out of breath and frustrated.

It was time for a different tactic. "Elsa Jannike Hermansen, if you don't stop then I'll—I'll get a bucket of hot water and throw it on you!"

_That_ got Elsa to stop with her ice wall for a moment. She was rarely, if ever, called by her _full_ name. She honestly couldn't even remember the last time someone had even used her name in its entirety; perhaps her mother, when she was a little girl misbehaving?

"Alright, alright," sighing, Elsa sat up, letting her ice wall disappear into mere wisps of snow. "There's no need to resort to middle-names and threats. I'm awake."

Anna let out a satisfactory 'hmph', marching over to her sister's bed and sitting crisscross-applesauce across from the young woman. "You took long enough."

"I was up well past midnight," the Snow Queen replied, covering her yawn daintily with a pale hand.

Concern flitted across Anna's face. "Why were you up so late?"

"I had to finish some reports on the status of Arrendale's foreign commerce."

"Huh?"

Elsa's lips twitched. "Exports to other countries."

"Ooh," Anna breathed, nodding along as though she understood what that meant. "You could've just said that."

"I thought I could get you to learn something." Elsa pointed out, her fingers starting to undo her thick, white-blonde braid. Although she usually slept with her hair down, the night previous she'd been too exhausted to even try.

"It's too early to learn," Anna declared, flopping onto the bed with great flourish, right across her sister's legs. "But guess what!"

"You've decided to join Sven in the barn?"

"Yes!" Anna answered back, sitting back up excitedly. Then she actually played back what her sister had said. "I mean, _no_! No, not _that_! Sven isn't even _here_; Kristoff went off ice harvesting, or sledding, or doing _something_ fun without _me _yesterday. What is that even supposed to _mean_?"

"It means," Elsa drawled out, raising one eyebrow, and gingerly reaching over to tuck a portion of Anna's hair behind her ear. "You look quite the sight with your bedhead."

Self-consciously, Anna frowned, and reached up to her hair. "Is it really that bad?"

"I almost mistook you for a porcupine."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Gee, _thanks_. Where's your brush?"

"On the vanity. And don't roll your eyes at me." Elsa answered, her fingers pulling through the knots in her long hair.

Anna stuck out her tongue. "Just because you're older doesn't mean you can boss me around."

"Oh yes it does, dear little sister of mine." Elsa laughed softly, and Anna pulled another un-amused face.

"Well," Anna started, grumbling loudly as she got off the bed, "it doesn't mean you _have_ to. I mean, honestly, I'm the perfect little sister! I can do tricks, I'm _always_ available to play, I even share my chocolate!"

"Anna, when have you ever shared your chocolate?" Elsa wondered, a single brow lifting again at the very thought.

The younger girl turned around, hairbrush in hand as she pursed out her lips in thought. "Okay, well maybe I don't _always_ share my chocolate, but besides that, I would be _any_ big sister's dream! But _noo_, I get stuck with the _one_ big sister in the world who doesn't see that and only wants to boss me around like a—"

"Anna." Elsa cut in, thoroughly amused.

Her sister looked up, brows scrunched together in confusion. "Yeah?"

"You're rambling," Elsa said, as her sister sat back down onto her bed.

For her part, Anna did appear sheepish. "Oops. Sorry. Tend to do that when something gets stuck in my head and I just _can't_ get it out no matter how hard I try, and then sometimes—"

Rolling her own eyes at her sister, Elsa smiled slightly and reached over for her hairbrush, However, she found that Anna's fingers were not releasing it. She looked up, puzzled.

"You said my hair looks bad. I need to brush it out." Anna declared, wrenching her fingers even tighter around the hair tool.

"Not with my brush. You have your own." Elsa replied back, yanking slightly to see if her sister would let go. No such luck.

"Yeah, but that's all the way in my room!" Anna answered, aggressively pulling the brush in her direction.

"Ten steps away. The horror." Elsa almost-snorted, obviously annoyed.

Anna only fed off her sister's annoyance. "Nuh-uh! It's fourteen and a half _big_ steps, or twenty-three _little_ steps, away!"

Elsa looked at her as though she'd grown another head. Anna lifted up her chin in response. "What? I counted!"

"Either way," Elsa replied, a huff of annoyance being released from her lips, "let go of it."

"Not a chance!" Anna answered, puffing out her chest as though this was a declaration of war. "Besides, give me one good reason why I can't use it! Sharing is caring!"

"You can't use it because it's _mine_!" Elsa said in a whining-tone, wincing at how she sounded.

Bickering as though she was a child was not becoming of a Queen, the blonde knew. But good gracious, it was _hers_! Anna had her _own_, wherever it was.

"Well, I just want to _borrow_ it!" Anna snapped back, trying to yank the brush in her direction once more, without much success.

A stare-down ensued between the two sisters. Both narrowed their eyes, each waiting for their adversary to give in. After a few moments, a mischievous half grin made its way onto Elsa's lips.

Without warning, the brush slowly started to gather with ice. Anna, too preoccupied with keeping the stare down alive, didn't notice. It wasn't until Elsa gave a hard tug, and the princess was unable to grip at the brush any longer did she realize what had happened.

"Hey!" She grunted in surprise, her face morphing into a pout. "That's _cheating_. You can't just turn the brush into ice; not _all _of us have snow powers!"

"I didn't cheat," Elsa defended, waving a hand and watching as the ice disappeared into snow flurries. "I simply used what I was given to work with. Additionally, all's fair in love and war."

"Whatever, cheater!" Anna answered back, exasperated and throwing her hands into the air. "I hope you like eating pumpkins, cheater-cheater-pumpkin-eater!"

"I'm actually quite fond of the taste, thank you." Elsa replied smoothly, suppressing a laugh at the look given to her.

While Anna sulked, Elsa brushed out her long hair. She thought about the list of duties she had to attend to, and almost sighed at the thought. It would be yet another long-winded late-night day, it seemed.

She looked over at her sister, who had crossed her arms grumpily across her chest, and bumped her slightly with her still blanketed foot. Like any older sister, she did love to give her younger sister a hard time. However, she wasn't fond of keeping her in an eternally unhappy state.

"What was I supposed to guess?" She wondered languidly, smiling slightly when Anna's face looked up at hers in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Earlier," Elsa started, not missing a beat, "You woke me so that I could guess something, right?"

Anna's face remained clouded for a few seconds, before the thought hit her like a ton of bricks. Suddenly she was breathing in, excitement building inside her again.

"Yes! Right!" She pumped a fist into the air, nearly squealing with happiness, "You'll never guess what happened!"

"Surprise me." Elsa answered, lips twitching at the thought.

Anna pulled her face not an inch away from her sister's, breathing out, "It _snowed_."

The amusement immediately left Elsa's features. Her face went slack, and she sighed, her shoulders dropping. "I'm sorry. I suppose I was having a bad dream and things got out of hand. Again."

She sighed, putting down the brush as she pushed her hair back with her hands. Then she wrapped her arms around her, less because of the cold, and more for comfort, mumbling, "I'll thaw everything as soon as I'm dressed, I promise."

"No, Elsa," Anna said gently, reaching out for one of her sister's cold hands and unwinding it from her body. "It _snowed_. Not you-got-scared-and-froze-everything kind of snow—which, by the way, if that were true don't you think your room would be a winter wonderland _first_?—I _mean_, real, honest-to-goodness-frozen-rain-from-clouds snow!"

Elsa blinked, the icy bitterness she felt at not being able to control her powers starting to slowly melt away. "Oh."

Anna's eyes starting shining like stars. "Right? It's so amazing, _real _snow! It's so like—" she paused for a moment, looking over at her sister, before correcting herself, "I mean, that's not to say that _your_ snow isn't real, or just as pretty Elsa! I just mean that it's the first official snowfall of the year, not the kinds you make whenever your upset or when I have a really strong urge to kick Kristoff and you make a Kristoff-looking-snowman for me, I—"

"Anna," Elsa warily cut in, pushing back her sister from her face, and picking up her brush once more to resume the annoying task of tidying her hair. Anna still held tight to one of her hands. "You're rambling again."

Anna face-palmed, making a face at herself. "Sorry, sorry, I'm just really excited!

"You know, for someone who's had a snowman follow her around for the past few months, I would think this wouldn't be such a major incident." Elsa said, almost musingly.

"This is different! It's the first _official_ snowfall of the year, not just Olaf and a cloud above his head!" Anna declared, smiling giddily at the thought. "I mean, this is going to be the _first _time that you and me can play together in the _real_ snow!"

Elsa went silent, biting her lip and staring down into her lap. "We _used_ to play together in the snow, when we were children. That is, before I…" she trailed off, unable to finish the statement.

Anna squeezed her still captured hand in understanding. "I know. I mean, I sort of know. The memories come and go, they never stick."

"I'm still so sorry." Elsa whispered, fighting against herself to cry. It felt like something was stuck in her throat.

Every now and then, an old memory would flare up in Anna's mind, but for the most part, they never stayed for more than a few seconds. It seemed that while Grand Pabbie had taken away most of those days long past, a few had stubbornly stuck around in Anna's subconscious. Hence, why she was able to remember Olaf, but not the time the stairs were turned into a snow-bank and she sled down them.

"Elsa, I'm not going to blame you for a freak accident that happened when you were eight." Anna replied, gently, but firmly. "Now, no more self-pitying. We're going out to the snow all day!"

Already, Anna was scrambling off the bed, pushing back her still unruly hair. It was more than a miracle that she found her footing quick enough to keep from falling down once more. When she noticed Elsa wasn't following her, immediately her hands rested on her hips.

"Aren't you coming?"

Elsa sighed. "Anna, I can't spend all day playing. You know that. I have meetings to attend, papers I need to overlook, edicts that need to be signed…"

Anna pursed out her lips, ignoring the voice in the back of her head saying, _See, I knew she wouldn't want to, she's retreating back behind that closed door._ "Well, when are you free today?"

Elsa frowned, thinking hard. "Right now, until breakfast." Anna's shoulders sagged, and guilt gnawed at the Queen. "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise, we'll do something fun, together, soon. I'll clear out my whole day and—Anna?"

The princess was no longer listening. Instead, she was walking away. Frost started to creep overhead, as panic overtook Elsa.

Anna was leaving. Anna wasn't going to stick around this place any longer. She'd failed, it was all her fault. She didn't protect Anna, she wasn't there for Anna, she didn't make the world safer for Anna, she—

"Ta-da!" Anna's voice suddenly cried out, pulling aside the heavy curtains to create a burst of light into the semi-dark room.

Elsa put up an arm immediately, half blinded and trying to avoid the harsh sun. "Anna?" She wondered, her heart still pumping, even if she could not see.

There were running footsteps, a crash, a colorful piece of language, and then finally, the Queen found herself being pulled out of bed and onto her feet.

"If we only have an hour for fun, then I'm going to make it last! Come _on_!"

"Pardon?" Elsa questioned, unable to comprehend the entire situation. She blinked a few times, rubbing at her eyes until her vision returned.

"We're going to go outside right now and play in the snow." Anna clarified, already trying to drag her sister out the door. "There's not a minute to lose!"

"Wait, wait, wait." Elsa stopped, putting on the breaks on the entire situation. She hadn't noticed, but her pulse had gone down remarkably and the frost was already receding. "Anna, we can't go out right _now_!"

Anna frowned, pausing in her attempt to pull her sister out the door. She tilted her head to the side in wonder. "Why not?"

"I—we—you're not even _dressed_!" Elsa nearly squeaked, looking for any excuse at this point to calm her sister's bout of madness.

Anna looked down at herself. It was true, she was still in her pale-blue nightgown. She reached up to her hair. It was still knotted and defying gravity itself by facing in every direction. She frowned, and then started eyeing Elsa's wardrobe.

"Well, that's okay, I can just borrow one of your dresses!"

Elsa's face lost all color, a remarkable feat for someone who was already very pale, and she let out a controlled breath. "To the snow we go then. Let me just get my robe."

"What about the green one, with the yellow flowers all at the bottom? You _never_ wear that dress, why can't I just put it on?" Anna asked, whining as she followed after her sister like a puppy.

Elsa turned around, her lips twitching in amusement. "Because it's _mine_."


	2. Chapter 2

"Ohmygosh, look at all the _snow_!"

Was the first thing Anna squealed upon stepping into the courtyard. Her eyes went wide, and immediately, she jumped into a snow-bank. She laughed through a mouth full of snow.

"Elsa, you've _got_ to try this!" Picking herself up, Anna raced back to where her sister was standing, still giggling like a madwoman. "It's so much fun, like jumping into a really cold pillow!"

"It's not becoming of a Queen to jump." She mumbled in response, hands clasped behind her back. "And you're lucky that the snow was deep enough; you could have broken something."

Childishly, Anna crossed her arms in front of her chest and stamped her foot. "I don't like _Queen_ Elsa."

Her sister raised an eyebrow, a frown settling across her features. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me!" Anna declared, moving her hands to her hips. "_Queen_ Elsa is boring."

"I'll be sure to inform Her Majesty of your feelings." Elsa replied dryly, almost rolling her eyes at the very thought of it. "Honestly, Anna, you know I'm not one for all these," she waved her hand, a few snowflakes drifting lazily from her fingertips, "…antics."

"Fine," Anna pretended to sulk, pouting, "but just do me one favor."

Warily, Elsa nodded. "If it's within reason…"

"Good. Just turn around and stay—stay right there, okay? Do _not_ move a muscle, like don't even _sneeze_!"

Elsa's quirked a worried brow, asking carefully, "What are you planning?"

"Nothing bad, honest!" Anna chirped, far too gleeful for a person who just a moment before was annoyed. "Turn around and do _not_ move. I have a surprise! Please, just trust me, it's nothing bad, I swear!"

Sighing, Elsa did as her sister instructed, figuring that the sooner she complied the sooner she could go get _properly_ dressed. After all, going about in a robe was not exactly appropriate attire for a Queen.

"If you throw a snowball at me _again_, Anna…" Elsa warned, almost exasperated, and listening to her sister's footsteps fading into the distance.

"Don't move!" Anna replied, her voice sounding farther away than Elsa had expected. What was the girl up to?

Suddenly, there was a fast crunching of running steps. Elsa's brows scrunched together in confusion. Was Anna running? _Why_ was she running? Unless she was…

Just as realization made it into the Queen's mind, something literally _slammed_ into her. A cry left her lips as she was tackled down into the snow, face first. Something, someone, warm was pressed against her back; she elbowed them off almost immediately as she sat up, spitting out the slush.

She turned to stare at her sister in shock, spluttering out an angry, "You…you _attacked_ me!"

Beside her, Anna flipped onto her back, out of breath with howling laughter. "Your…face…" she gasped out, clutching her hurting sides.

Elsa narrowed her flashing eyes, a hot fury sweeping over her as she hissed out, "Have you lost your godforsaken _mind_? I am the _Queen_! _Your_ Queen! I am reserved the status of respectability and _demand_ a sense of decorum at all times!"

Anna's laughter died away, her features sobering up when she noticed that her sister was not in a joking-type mood. She sat up, hands raised in surrender. "Elsa, I was just…"

The wind picked up, and a chill went down Anna's spine. Elsa eyes turned murderous. "You were just acting like a _child_! Don't you think of anything else but _playing_? You are almost nineteen years old; you're practically a woman, Anna, act like it!"

It went quiet for about a minute, while Elsa tried to calm her anger, and Anna mulled over what she had been told. The Princess bit her lip, truly feeling sorry as she noticed her older sister rub at her probably sore shoulder.

"Elsa?" She squeaked, softly, hesitantly. "Are you still mad at me?"

Her sister pinched the bridge of her nose, still lying in the snow, sighing. "No, Anna, I'm not mad at you any longer."

"You still _sound_ mad."

"That's because I'm actually rather annoyed with you at the moment." Elsa replied, still pinching the bridge of her nose. Anna nodded, before an idea reached her mind.

"I know how to make you not-annoyed with me! You're still ticklish, right?" She asked, shuffling closer to her sister.

Elsa's eyes popped open immediately, and she released her nose. "What? Anna—no!"

Without warning, Anna's fingers started to move to her sister's sides, each finger moving individually, like the nursery song about the spider. Elsa was unable to hold it back: she _had_ to start laughing. Even if it was against her own will.

"Stop…st-stop!" Elsa continued to laugh, unable to control herself. Anna was grinning above her with a rather evil smile, her own giggles hard to control. "I can't…this…"

"I knew I could make you happy again!" Anna declared, pretty pleased with herself as she ducked one of Elsa's arms trying to push her away.

"When...I g-get away…you are...in _so_ much trouble!" Elsa breathlessly declared through her mirth, unable to sound serious because Anna still had control over her sides.

"Don't you mean, 'if'?" Anna smirked, giggling just as madly as her sister. Elsa took her momentary distraction to use motion her hand slightly, letting a harsh wind literally push Anna onto her back.

"Oomph! Hey!" The princess cried out, obviously not expecting such a move.

Still trying to control the remnants of her laughter, Elsa sat up, smiling and completely out of breath. "No, you heard me right, I said when, as in _now_!"

"No way!" Anna cried out, narrowly missing Elsa's dive at her.

She jumped up, still giggling as she started to run in the opposite direction, gathering up her nightgown in two fistfuls so that her bare feet wouldn't trip. Her sister stared after her for just a second, before finding herself shrieking with laughter and running as well, loose platinum-blonde hair whipping behind her like a flag.

"Wait!" Elsa skidded to a stop, her uncovered feet curling pleasantly into the cold sludge that covered the ground. "Don't come any nearer!"

"Why shouldn't I?" She demanded, almost grateful that she was given a moment to rest.

"This is my snow _fort_! Any attacks on these walls will be," Anna gathered as much snow as she could, building up her battlement while she spoke, "considered an act of war!"

"Really?" Elsa wondered, a mischievous sort of excitement churning in her chest as she reached down to grab two handfuls of snow.

"Yes, really! So if you don't want to face my, uh, wrath, you'd better run away now, because once I start, I can—"

_Plop_! A snowball the size of her head was directed to a section of the still-in-construction fort, knocking down about half of it. Anna gasped, looking up to see Elsa running away, laughing loudly.

"This means war!" Anna declared, calling after her sister. "You are so going down!"

"No, that's just your fort!" Elsa cried back, grinning wolfishly at her own cleverness.

She stopped running finally, far enough that she was safe for the time being, but once the snowball fight got started, it would be a free-for-all. Immediately, she dropped to her knees, doing like Anna had done and starting to construct her own fort as quickly as possible.

Then, she paused, blinking. "Wait, what am I _doing_?"

She stood quickly, not bothering the brush the snow off her. Then, with practiced movements, she started to construct her own version of a fort, complete with three snow cannons, all facing her sister.

"Ready yet?" She called to Anna, lifting herself so that she sat on the fort wall, prepared for a war.

"Almost!" Anna called back, still trying to fix the part of her fort that Elsa had knocked over. She looked up, and her jaw dropped.

Elsa's fort looked like an actual _fort_. It was a single ice-wall, a good foot thick, and about five feet tall. There were even cut outs along the wall, with…were those _cannons_? Aimed at _he_r?

Anna gulped, looking down at the pitiful gathering of snow she had put in a few pathetic lumps around her. It would barely be enough to cover her head. Still, she reached down, patted a snowball into her hands, took in a deep breath, and decided to face her fate.

"Ready! One…two…thr—oof!"

The first snowball was thrown, or rather shot, from Elsa's side. She laughed happily upon seeing that her cannon's aim was true, hitting Anna dead center, like she was a target. The younger girl staggered back up, but immediately dropped back to the ground to avoid a repeat snowball.

"Elsa! At least let me get one throw in!" Anna whined, finding that fighting against the Snow Queen was not the greatest idea in the world.

"Just because I'm so nice…not a chance!" Elsa declared, laughing again as another snowball hit Anna in the arm.

Anna gritted her teeth, looking down at the snowball still clasped in her bright red, raw hands. Another snowball almost took out her legs. This was impossible! The only way she could possibly survive would be to attack Elsa directly on—but that meant venturing out into no-man's-land!

A snowball whizzing by her ear made up Anna's mind almost immediately. She clutched her snowball tightly to her chest, took in a deep breath, and let out a war cry.

"Roarrr!" She ran forward, eyes focused steadily upon Elsa, who only raised a brow at her.

Without any warning, Anna let her left hand fly, and the snowball was released from her grip. Elsa had no time to react, no time to see what was happening. The ball of slush hit her face dead on, knocking her off her perch on the fort wall.

"Ha! I got you! I hit you!" Anna laughed, feeling a giddy feeling overcome her. "I am the greatest snowball-er in the entire world! I am the absolute best—whoa!"

Not noticing where she was going, Anna literally slammed into the fort wall. Immediately, she fell back, groaning and clutching at her head. Hitting ice-head on?

"That was not a great idea," she mumbled to herself, standing up, wincing, and walking towards the fort.

"Stay away!" A rather female voice, deepening to pretend it was much more sinister, called out from behind the wall. "Unless you come with chocolate, there is no entering this sacred place!"

"Elsa, lemme in!" Anna complained, pounding against the ice wall, only to hiss in pain as she moved her fist away. She stamped her foot once more, immaturely. "No fair! I want to be in the good fort too!"

A section of ice disappeared, and a pair of familiar blue eyes appeared. "What's the password?"

"The password?" Anna questioned, unable to comprehend what her sister was playing at.

"The password to enter the fort!" Elsa hissed through the other side, but her happy, shining eyes told a different story than her tone.

Anna frowned, thinking hard. "Can you give me a hint?"

"No."

"Is the password," Anna paused, searching her mind for something, anything, "…Olaf?"

The eyes on the other side blinked, obviously taken aback. Anna started to smile at her victory, but just as quickly, ice replaced the section where the eyes had been. Anna frowned.

"Elsa, is the password Olaf?"

"No, it is not."

Anna's eyes narrowed at the wall. "Yes it is! You're just not letting me in, aren't you?"

"It is _not_!" Was the only reply she received, a stubborn one at that.

"Is too! Why won't you just let me _in_? What's the big deal?" She called, already starting to back away from the fort.

"The big deal is, because it's _mine_! It's _my_ fort! Is not!"

"Is too, is too, is _too_!" Anna shrieked, running straight to the fort and trying to jump over it.

Unfortunately, her jump was not high enough, and she got stuck about halfway on the top.

She huffed in annoyance.

"Would you like some help?" An overly amused voice asked, and Anna looked down, right into her sister. Elsa wasn't even trying to hide her smile, and Anna discovered that it was infectious.

"Yes, please." Anna sighed in defeat, realizing who the ultimate winner of the snowball war was. She may have hit Elsa, but her sister's cannons took the cake.

"Alright, hold on," Elsa gripped her sister's hand, keeping a good hold on her. Then she reached out a bare foot, gently touching the fort, and watching as it disappeared before her into the wind.

Anna fell, for once, on her feet. She grinned, although she had long since stopped being able to feel her nose, or ears, or toes, or really anything. She had other things to occupy her mind.

"Come on, we've still got to build a snowman!" Anna fell to her knees, starting to gather up bundles of snow, trying hard to make a ball out of them.

Elsa joined her on her knees, frowning. "We've built plenty of snow_men_ already, Anna. Why can't it be a snow-_woman_ for once?"

Anna gasped, covering her mouth in shock. "Elsa, you're a genius! Okay, I'll work on the head—you do the body, you're better at the body than I am."

"Sounds like a plan," Elsa agreed, rubbing her hands together eagerly. She was going to have some fun with this.

"What should we call her anyway?" She asked, while snowflakes drifted from her fingers, creating the outline of the body.

"Fluffy?" Anna offered, hopefully.

Elsa actually _snorted_ at the idea. "No, you're _definitely _saving that one for your firstborn."

"What's wrong with Fluffy? _I_ think it's a cute name!" Anna defended, her tongue coming to stick out of the corner of her mouth as she patted down the head of her future snow-woman.

"You also think "thingamajigger" is what a thermometer is called." Elsa smirked, holding back her giggles.

"Okay, that was _one_ time, I was _ten_, and Papa teased me for _weeks_! Sheesh!" Anna huffed, still focused on her snow-woman's head.

"The part I never understood was that you weren't even sick, and you were looking for a thermometer for some reason." Elsa declared, lazily turning her snow-woman's body this way and that for inspection.

"I wanted to do a science experiment!" Anna complained. "But I made a mess of Mama's things looking for it—she was _so_ mad! I even got spanked!"

"I remember," Elsa smiled at the memory, "I felt so horrible that you were sent to bed without dinner too, so I brought you my dessert."

"Yeah, but you forgot the spoon! And I was _so_ upset, I couldn't eat without a spoon, because if I dirtied my new dress Mama would be even angrier. And you promised to go to the kitchens to get me a spoon." Anna mused, a half smile lifting up the corner of her mouth.

"I _did_ try to go to the kitchens," Elsa grinned even wider, "But Mama asked me where I was going, and I had to fib that I was heading to the portrait gallery because I was _positive_ I had left my ribbon in there."

"But you had stopped wearing hair ribbons by that time, you were thirteen already! Did she believe you?" Anna asked breathlessly, because it was the first time she was hearing _this_ part of the story.

"You know, I don't know." Elsa said thoughtfully, shrugging. "She let me go, so either I was a very good liar, or she was too upset to try to foil my schemes."

"Well, you did make it to the kitchens eventually, right? I mean, you came back with a special spoon made of ice!" Anna smiled at the good time, a few of the happy times she and her sister had been able to share throughout their childhoods.

Elsa nodded. "Right, the kitchens…or the hallway right outside your room."

"Right, right…wait, no—what?!" She asked, confusion overtaking her features.

Elsa raised a brow, looking over at her younger sister. "Anna, it was a spoon made of _ice_. Must I say more?"

"But you had gloves on!"

"I wasn't going to allow you to starve to death, though!" Elsa retorted, defensively.

Anna looked up at her, making eye contact for the first time this entire conversation. Elsa did the same. Then they both started to laugh.

"You still think I was going to starve to death!" Anna declared, falling

over herself with giggles.

"It's better than thinking it was a "special spoon" from the kitchens!" Elsa

bursting with chuckles herself.

"We're a pair of fools, aren't we Elsa?" Anna laughed, wiping away tears from her eyes.

Elsa giggled, trying to smother them with her hand for a more refined persona. "You speak only for _yourself_. Have you finished that head yet?"

"Just about!" Anna declared, lifting up her head proudly. "Now to put it on the body…um…where's the body?"

Elsa raised a brow. "It is literally right in front of you, Anna."

"No it's not, there's just these two lumps of snow in a dress." Anna replied back, still looking left and right for the body.

Elsa gave her a heavy look. Her eyes went wide, turning back to the two lumps of snow. "Oh man, I didn't even…why is she so…"

"I figured if she was a _she_, then she would want a nice figure, don't you think? Then I thought, why shouldn't she be dressed as well? After all, we don't want an unladylike snow-woman. " Elsa twisted a strand of platinum hair around a finger, almost nervous for Anna's response.

In reality, the princess simply looked down at her large, lumpy head, before sighing and placing it on the body. "Well, she can have a great body, but she'll have a big head."

"A misshapen head, at that." Elsa responded, warily eyeing the snow-woman's crater for a head. Anna bumped her with her shoulder.

"Hey, I did this _all_ by hand, not like you, cheater," she declared, crossing her arms. "But nice touch on the ice arms. It totally matches the ice on her dress."

"Thank you, but I did this by hand as well."

"Waving your hand around does _not_ count, Elsa." Anna retorted, falling back into the snow bank with a soft thud.

"Your knees are showing." Elsa pointed out dryly, distracting Anna from the conversation at hand.

"How scandalous," Anna snorted, laughing a little at herself. "We should call the local press—I can just see the headlines, 'Her Royal Highness's _Adorable_ Knees in Full View, See Sketch on Next Page'."

"Let's avoid that headline from showing, shall we? The last thing we need is for Kristoff to see that very sketch and get unfortunate ideas about your reputation." Elsa answered, moving to shove Anna's nightdress back down to her cover even her calves.

"Oh, he's seen worse, trust me." Anna smirked at the thought, but then went as red as a tomato when Elsa leaned over her, one eyebrow raised in that dangerous look that meant business.

"No, no—I mean, we haven't done—we've just kissed a lot, and then sometimes, my skirt—it just, it moves on its own, and it's hard to focus when—"

Elsa held up a hand, effectively cutting her off (and saving her) from saying more on the subject. "Anna, as…enjoyable as this conversation is," she cringed at the very thought of what she was going to say next, "I believe it's better saved for later. When I _don't_ know where Kristoff is and he'll be gone for longer than two or three days."

"Right, got it." Anna breathed, focusing on the here and now.

That conversation would not be a comfortable one, although she did realize, unfortunately, that it would have to happen eventually. With her mother having passed away a few years before, Elsa was the closest thing she had to guidance on this issue. Although, her sister was much less experienced than she, so it was pretty easy to assume that the conversation would be rather painful.

"Erm, Elsa?" Anna wondered, sitting up on one elbow as she watched her sister, who had flopped into the snow, start to move her arms in every which direction.

"Yes?"

"You're not making a snow-angel right." Anna replied, pursing out her lips.

Elsa looked over at her for a moment, one brow raised, before she shrugged and continued on from before. "That's because I'm making a snow-_Anna_. See, she has to be completely uncontrollable, with just the right amount of crazy."

"Oh, is that so?" Anna asked, narrowing her eyes at the thought. Elsa laughed, continuing to perfect her snow-Anna. "Well, in that case, I'm going to make a snow-_Elsa_."

"Don't you dare steal my idea, " Elsa warned, narrowing her eyes at her younger sister.

Anna tilted her head to the side, asking, "Why not? It's not like it's even _that _original of an idea."

"Because it's _mine_, thank you very much, and I worked very hard on my snow-Anna."

"Whatever," Anna rolled her eyes, "I'm still going to make my own snow-Elsa."

Elsa looked over, now much more interested. "And what does that entail?"

"Well," Anna started, grinning, "snow-Elsa starts out really proper," she demonstrated by becoming very still, hands folded over her stomach, "but then, then she gets really excited by the snow, and she stops being _Queen_ Elsa, and becomes _Fun_ Elsa." She finished by splaying in every direction in the snow, laughing as she did so.

Recognition lit up Elsa's eyes. "Ah, so _that's_ what you meant by you didn't like Queen Elsa. I suppose it has to be rather annoying at times, having a boring older sister."

Anna frowned, titling her head to the side, and lifting back up on her elbow, like Elsa had done, to look at her sister. "I don't think it's annoying. It's just a different side of you. You have to be Queen Elsa—"

"Because the kingdom expects it." Elsa cut in, smiling grimly.

Anna shook her head. "_No_, because you have to balance me out. If Fun Elsa was always around, nothing would ever get done, and I'd always be in the infirmary because no one would hold me back from my half-crazy ideas."

"Half-crazy?" Elsa repeated, raising her eyebrow once more.

Anna sheepishly looked away. "Okay, maybe sometimes their a little—just a _little_—wacko."

"Mhm, if you say so," Elsa agreed, not wishing to point out that most of the time it took freezing Anna's feet to the ground to keep her from doing anything that could end up badly.

They stayed quiet a few moments, before Anna broke the silence. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"If you must," Elsa replied, wary.

Anna shifted slightly, frowning. "What's it like, being twenty-one?"

That question came out of nowhere, it seemed. Elsa's brow scrunched, and a frown appeared on her own features. "I suppose, it's a lot like being eighteen, except you feel much more mature."

"Oh."

"Oh?" Elsa picked up on the note of disappointment in Anna's voice.

The teenager sighed. "I just thought it would be much more…grown up, you know? Like, not as young."

"What's bringing this on?" Elsa asked softly, worry marking her tone. She wasn't used to hearing her younger sister asking such serious things.

"I just…sometimes, I wish I wasn't the baby of the family. Everyone always treats me like I'm five, and you said it yourself, I'm almost nineteen. I'm almost a woman."

Elsa sighed, her heart heavy. "Oh, Anna. You aren't practically a woman, you _are_ one."

"But you said—" She was cut off by Elsa's hand again.

"Let me explain," her older sister said, gently, "When I think of you, when others that have known you all your life think of you, we all picture you as this little girl in pigtails, ruining priceless paintings with crayon markings, and a gap-toothed smile."

"I don't understand," Anna confessed, frowning at herself for not grasping the concept so quickly.

Elsa decided to try a different approach. "I was angry that you tackled me into the snow, and I told you to grow up, because you were practically a woman."

"Yes…" Anna answered, not knowing if that was a question or not.

"Well, it's _hard_ for me to think of my baby sister as all grown up, you have to understand that, Anna. I still remember holding you the day you were born, all red-faced and screaming." Briefly, Elsa smiled at the memory, trying to reign in her unnecessary tears. "So, even though you are very much a young woman, already, it's difficult for me to think of you as anything _but _a little girl."

"I don't want to be a little girl forever, that's the thing. I do want to grow up, like you said. But no one gives me the chance." Sighing, Anna blinked back her own tears, not quite sure why she was so sad.

"It's not your job to grow up, Anna, that's what the baby of the family is _for_. If you were grown up, then who would give me a much-needed break? Who would bicker with me, and get me to act as though I'm seven all over again? Who would sneak into my room late at night, saying you're afraid of the storm, but we both know it's just to comfort me?" Elsa cleared her throat, brushing back her tears.

Very quietly, she added, "Who would be my best friend?"

"I never…I never thought of it that way." Anna gasped out, freely letting her own tears run. Elsa reached over with a watery smile, wiping them away with her thumb. "You're my best friend too, you know. You've always been."

Elsa choked back a sob, nodding her head because she didn't trust her voice. They laid there in the morning stillness for awhile, both lost in their thoughts. Then, the waves of drowsiness started to kick in.

Elsa started thinking of all the work she still had to do, but before her thoughts were able to get very far, something warm pressed against her. Anna was curling up against her, snuggling into her arm, in the middle of the snow. The elder of the duo smiled, leaning over to push a few strands of damp hair away from her sister's forehead.

"You know what?" Anna breathed, sleepiness overtaking her as she wrapped her arms around Elsa's neck.

"What?"

Anna pressed her lips into her sister's cheek, delivering a sloppy kiss. "I love you, even if you _are_ a bossy big sister."

Elsa grinned, settling herself deeper into the snow. The work could wait. Being here, now, with her sister was more important than any stuffy old room any way.

"Would you like to know something as well?" Elsa asked, yawning.

Anna managed a sleepy murmur of, "Yeah?"

"I love you too, because you're _mine_."

* * *

**_Well, that's it folks. Hope you enjoyed this ficlet, please don't forget to review!_**


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